


My Soul Calls for You

by AgentStannerShipper



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: (but no actual mpreg), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Canon-Typical Violence, First Time, Knotting, Light Angst, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Protectiveness, References to Mpreg, Soul Bond, and eggsy just wants to be loved, harry is an emotionally repressed idiot, merlin and roxy are long-suffering, references to past prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-19 03:32:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11889057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentStannerShipper/pseuds/AgentStannerShipper
Summary: Normally Eggsy wouldn't give a shit about werewolves, but Kingsman just might be the solution to getting rid of Dean for good. The only thing standing in his way is the Alpha: one Harry Hart, who is an absolute dick...and surprisingly alluring.Harry just wants to keep his pack safe and not make the same mistakes he has in the past. And Eggsy Unwin isn't the only one making things very difficult for him. But still. It's mostly Eggsy.





	My Soul Calls for You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kez](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kez/gifts).



> From the prompt: Kingsman are a known pack of werewolves, very tight knit, not very fond of outsiders, but a desperate Eggsy, who has exhausted every other idea he can think off, goes to them for help getting rid of Dean. The Alpha, Harry agrees... but he has a few stipulations...
> 
> Many thanks to hepcatliz, the wonderful beta for this fic. This isn't my usual pairing, but it was a ton of fun to write. I just hope it's as much fun to read. (And I apologize, but I can't title to save my life.)

The first time Gary “Eggsy” Unwin met Harry Hart was the first time he had been inside a house that nice without the intention of robbing it. He had dressed up, although even his best clothes looked completely out of place; by his standards, a nice button-down, a pair of jeans without holes in them, and his least-worn out pair of trainers were fancy. But amid the finery of the Kingsman complex, he stuck out like a sore thumb.

It had taken a great deal of work just to get an appointment with the most well-known Alpha in London. Eggsy had written a letter, phoned, and finally waited outside the gates himself for seven straight hours before anyone would even talk to him. Then it had taken another half an hour before he had convinced the woman who had come out, a vaguely familiar brunette that looked to be about his age wearing a smart ponytail and a suit, that he wasn’t some creepy fan, he didn’t want an autograph, and no, he was definitely not part of some werewolf-worshiping cult. He just wanted a few minutes to speak to Mr. Hart about a potential business arrangement, assuming he wasn’t too busy.

The woman looked doubtful, casting a very clear eye over his choice of clothing, but she let him in, leading him to a door just off the main hall and knocking with purpose. Eggsy did his best to remain professional, instead of rubbernecking like he wanted to just to take in how high the ceilings were.

“Come in,” a voice called from inside.

The woman pulled open the door and gestured for Eggsy to follow her through.

Eggsy’s first thought was that Harry Hart looked a lot more normal in person than in any tabloid photo he’d ever seen. With a pressed suit, carefully combed hair, and a harried expression on his face, Mr. Hart could have been any successful business man Eggsy had ever come across. Except this one he had no intention of pickpocketing.

“Who’s this, Roxy?” Mr. Hart asked, frowning as he took in Eggsy’s appearance. “I was fairly confident I didn’t have a meeting until three.”

“He’s been here since about six this morning,” the woman, Roxy, said. “Says he has some sort of...business arrangement he wants to discuss with you.”

Mr. Hart’s frown deepened, but he nodded, “Thank you, Roxy. Why don’t you take a seat, Mr…?”

“Eggsy,” Eggsy said without thinking. “Sorry, Gary. Gary Unwin.” He took the chair across from Mr. Hart, resisting the urge to put his feet up on the desk between them. Behind him, Roxy quietly left the room and closed the door.

“And you have a business proposal for me, Mr. Unwin? Seven hours, that’s a very long time to wait.” Mr. Hart leaned back in his chair, surveying Eggsy with mild interest.

“Well, I sent a letter.”

“We get a lot of fan mail.”

“I tried calling.”

“My apologies for not answering, but we see too many fanatics to take every phone call. Still, seven hours. That’s persistent. I suspect Roxy took pity on you; you don’t smell threatening so she must have decided you were genuine.” It was casual, his reference to his enhanced werewolf senses, but given the way his eyes narrowed at the words, Eggsy got the feeling it was very, very deliberate. Mr. Hart cleared his throat, “Anyway, you must understand, I’m very busy, so whatever it is you have to say, say it quickly.”

“Yes sir,” Eggsy scooted forward in his seat. “Look, I know there are a lot of freaks out there, trying to get werewolves to turn them and whatever, but I promise you this ain’t like that.”

“You said this was a business proposal?” Mr. Hart’s voice sharpened.

“It is!” Eggsy said. “Well, sort of. It’s like this, see. My mum’s got a boyfriend, Dean Baker? She’s tried leavin’ ‘im, tried calling the cops, done just about everythin’ she can to get away. No one will do shit, and whenever I try standin’ up to him it just gets worse, you know?”

“What gets worse?”

Eggsy shifted, “Dean...he hits us and stuff. Mum not so much anymore, ‘cause I try and take most of it, you know? Try to keep her safe. But it’s just gettin’ worse, and no one will help us.”

“And what do you expect me to do about it?” Mr. Hart asked. “I’m not a lawyer, Mr. Unwin, nor am I with the police. You have my sympathy, but I’m afraid the situation is out of my hands.”

Under any other circumstances, Eggsy would have gone off on the entitled prick. But he didn’t have any other options. There was nowhere left to turn. There were other wolf packs in London, but at least a few were being paid off by Dean, and the others couldn’t offer the sort of protection Eggsy needed. The Kingsman pack could. So he gritted his teeth and said as politely as possible, “I know. But I was wondering if maybe your pack could protect us? Wouldn’t have to be forever, just until we figured out a way to get away.”

Mr. Hart stood, “I’m sorry, Mr. Unwin, but we really can’t do that. I can put in a word with the police, but-”

“That won’t do nothing!” Eggsy burst out, frustrated. He stood too, “Look, I’m willing to do whatever you want. You’re unmated, right? You don’t have an Omega? I could do that for you. You wouldn’t even have to turn me, you could just have me-”

“Get out.” Mr. Hart’s voice was more growl than speech, and Eggsy took a step back, nearly tripping over his chair. Mr. Hart’s eyes had turned dark, nearly black, his lips curled up in a snarl that showed, for all appearances of normal, just how far from normal Harry Hart really was.

“I-I-”

“I said get out!” Mr. Hart wrenched the door open and his nails pricked at Eggsy’s neck as he all but threw Eggsy through it. He stumbled, falling in front of Roxy, who stood right outside the door and looked utterly shocked. More calmly, Mr. Hart bit out, “Roxy, if you could escort Mr. Unwin to the pavement?”

“I’m not your secretary, Harry,” Roxy said sharply, but she offered her hand out to Eggsy, taking his elbow in some strange, slightly uncomfortable gesture. The door to Mr. Hart’s office slammed shut, and Roxy guided Eggsy outside. “For what it’s worth,” she said softly, “I’m sorry.

Eggsy jerked out of her grip, “Yeah, well, thanks for nothing.” He stalked off down the pavement.

The moment he was out of sight of the house, he deflated. That was it. His last hope, down the drain. Harry fucking Hart.

 

***

 

“What the hell was that?” Harry didn’t even look up as Roxy barged through the door to his office, her hands on her hips.

“Roxy-”

“I know you could smell it on him,” the Beta snapped. “He absolutely reeks of fear, and I _heard_ him say he was getting beat up by his mum’s boyfriend. That’s abuse, Harry! We can’t just-”

“We will contact the proper authorities, and they will handle it,” Harry insisted. He looked up at Roxy, meeting her head on, “We cannot pick up every stray off the streets, no matter how heart-wrenching their story.” It was hard to say, especially as the scent of Eggsy’s fear lingered in Harry’s office, along with undertones of lemon and pine that Harry suspected would come out more strongly in more relaxed circumstances. Something animalistic tugged in Harry’s chest, as if chasing after the boy he’d forced out of his office, and he suppressed it with a vengeance, his face screwing up into an appropriate scowl.

“But-”

“Roxy, for as long as you live under this roof, I am your Alpha and you _will_ do as I say. And I say, we will phone the police, and they will take care of it. It’s their job, after all.”

Roxy scowled, but she slunk from the room. Before she was out of earshot, Harry heard her mumble, “Let’s see what Merlin has to say about this.”

Harry sighed. He felt for Eggsy, really he did, but he had a pack to look out for. No matter how sad the boy had seemed, no matter how frightened he was, Harry’s priority was his pack. He couldn’t jeopardize that for one scared boy with surprisingly haunting blue eyes. Not after last time.

Merlin, as it turned out, was of the same opinion as Harry, more or less. “We don’t let in outsiders,” he said calmly when Harry asked if he’d done the right thing. “It’s what keeps us safe. You know that better than most. The lad’s story’s a sad one, but it’s not ours to get involved in.”

“I thought so,” Harry sighed. “Roxy’s right, though. The young man was hurting rather badly. You should have seen him, Merlin. The fear radiating from him was almost overwhelming.”

Merlin stiffened, frowning at Harry over the rim of his coffee cup, “Harry…”

Harry waved off his concern, knowing what the Beta was reading in his voice and scent, “This isn’t like last time, so stop looking at me like that.”

“I can hear when you’re lying, Harry. You felt it, didn’t you?”

“So what if I did?” Harry snapped, knowing he was sending a wave of aggression Merlin’s way. Any other werewolf would have backed down, but Harry’s second just raised an eyebrow. “I’ve learned from my mistakes,” Harry insisted. “Besides, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever see him again.”

 

***

 

Eggsy hissed as he pressed a bag of peas to his eye, wincing as the cold leached into his skin. Dean didn’t generally go for the face, preferring to get in a shot that was less visible to the public eye, but apparently Eggsy’s explanation of where he’d been all day (“I was just out with Ryan and Jamal, I swear.”) hadn’t satisfied him (“Poodle says he saw yous hanging around outside that fucking wolf house.”) and instead his temper had flared enough to deliver a solid punch that left Eggsy with a throbbing headache and a nasty black eye. Rather than fighting back, he’d gone down, and earned a few kicks to the ribs for it before Dean had left him there. At least his mum wasn’t home yet.

In the other room, Daisy let out a soft cry, and Eggsy dropped the peas and hurried to her side. He scooped her out of her crib, ignoring the sharp sting of pain as his ribs protested, and rocked her gently. “It’s alright,” he cooed to her. “I’m here.”

She quieted in his arms, and Eggsy pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Someday I’m gonna get us outta here,” Eggsy promised her quietly.

Michelle didn’t even flinch when she got home and saw Eggsy’s black eye. She just sighed and hugged him. “I’m sorry, babe,” she said quietly.

“It’s alright, Mum,” Eggsy responded. “I’m alright.” He didn’t tell her about Kingsman. He’d asked, he’d been shot down, there was no sense dwelling on it. Time to move on.

Dean, on the other hand, didn’t seem ready to let it go just yet. The next day Eggsy went out, just down to The Black Prince for a pint because fuck it, he needed to get out of the house and he needed to think of another solution since Kingsman was headed by a royal prick. As he approached, he noticed a few familiar faces waiting for him outside.

“Shit,” he cursed under his breath. He veered to the side, moving to walk past the pub. They followed him, and Eggsy picked up the pace. As they did the same, his heart began to thunder in his ears, and Eggsy broke out into a full sprint.

 

***

 

“You know, I don’t actually need a set of bodyguards everywhere I go,” Harry said pointedly.

“Who said anything about bodyguards?” James asked innocently.

By his side, Alistair wrapped an arm around his mate’s waist and nodded, “We’ve just been cooped up in the house too long, that’s all. Wanted a bit of a walk, and thought you could use the company.”

“I’m perfectly fine on my own.”

“Of course,” James agreed.

“But a few extra sets of eyes and ears can’t hurt, especially right now,” Alistair put in.

Harry huffed, irritated as he always was when the pair tag teamed him, but he couldn’t be too angry. “We’re in the middle of London,” Harry pointed out. “Besides, as far as we know they intend to be civil. There’s no sense in expecting an atta-” His words were cut off, replaced by a gasp of air as he was barrelled over by a figure he’d been too busy chastising his packmates to notice.

James and Alistair’s hackles were immediately up, snarling as they dragged the boy off Harry. It took another heartbeat for the shock to wear off, and then Harry was hit by the smell; a lemony-pine scent that was familiar, all the more so because of the overwhelming smell of fear screaming over it. “It’s alright!” Harry said. “Let him go.” He pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the hand James offered him. “Hello, Mr. Unwin.”

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Hart,” the boy’s words were rushed, accompanied by a nervous glance over his shoulder. Harry turned his head that direction and heard pounding footsteps on the pavement just around the corner. He looked back at Eggsy, and something deep inside him, feral and furious, growled as he took in the boy’s black eye and the way he was hunched over slightly, clutching at his ribs like he was in a great deal of pain. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I didn’t mean-”

“Who did this to you?” Harry’s voice didn’t quite match the growl inside him, but it was a near thing. “Was it your stepfather?”

“He’s not-” Eggsy cut himself off, “Yeah, yeah ‘e did.”

“Right.” Harry drew himself up to his full height, realizing with resignation that he was about to do something very foolish indeed. “Eggsy, if you would stand behind me, please?”

“What?”

Harry gripped his shoulder, ignoring the fire that pricked over his skin at the contact, and forced Eggsy behind him. James and Alistair flanked him to form a protective wall, just in time for a handful of men to stumble around the corner at top speed, skidding to a walking pace as they caught sight of the group waiting for them. Harry bared his teeth in what could be mistaken as a smile from afar, but as the men approached they shrank back on themselves at the aggressive gesture. “Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Harry said. “Can I help you?”

The man in front, either braver than his colleagues or far more stupid, puffed up his chest and said, “Jus’ turn over the kid an’ it’ll all be good.”

“Hmm, no, I don’t think I will,” Harry said calmly, allowing the animal rage to seep into his posture but not his voice, drawing the words from the place deep in his chest where the wolf prowled. “He’s mine now, I think.”

“Oh yeah? You an’ what army?”

“I said,” Harry took a step forward, his eyes darkening and a snarl in the words, “he’s mine.” Behind his back he flicked a hand signal to his packmates, and instantly James and Alistair dropped. As they did so, muscles shifted, bones popped, and suddenly the gang was faced with a pair of very large, very angry looking wolves, who stalked forward to be level with Harry. The men took one look and proved to be smarter than Harry would have thought, because every single one of them turned tail and fled.

Harry turned back to Eggsy, surprised to be hit by an even stronger wave of fear. “It’s alright,” he said quietly, overwhelmed by the need to reassure the boy. “We’re not going to hurt you. Tell me, Eggsy. Where is your mother?”

Eggsy stammered out an address, and Harry nodded. “If you’ll just show us the way, then?”

The boy nodded, still looking stunned, and shakily guided them back to his flat. Harry wrinkled his nose and the two wolves by his side whimpered at the overpowering stench of alcohol and cigarettes that permeated the neighbourhood. “Get your mother and whatever else you need to bring with you,” Harry said to Eggsy, who scrambled to obey.

Even as the boy disappeared into one of the flats, Harry’s ears pricked, registering footfalls thundering up behind them, and a loud voice demanded, “Oi, what d’you think you’re doin’ here?”

Harry turned on his heel, his nose wrinkling further as the smell of alcohol strengthened, telling him the man had clearly just come from a pub. “Dean Baker, I presume?”

“Tha’s right.”

“It’s my pleasure to inform you that I’m taking Eggsy off your hands. Along with his mother.”

Dean reared back, his face turning red with anger. Either he was stupider than his gang, or he hadn’t noticed the pair of wolves by Harry’s side. “You can’t do that!”

“Oh, I think I can,” Harry said. The possessiveness flared again, and he fought to temper it while still using it to fuel his words. “Eggsy is _mine_ now.”

“If you want ‘im so bad, why don’ you pay for him? Trust me when I say his mouth’s worth a lot more when it’s stuffed too full to talk.”

Harry couldn’t hope to guard against the wall of rage that slammed into him, and he stalked forward, backing a suddenly very frightening-looking Dean against a wall. “I don’t think you’re understanding me,” he growled. “I want Eggsy. What I want, I get. And you will not lay another finger on him as long as I live. Do I make myself clear?”

“Harry?” Eggsy’s voice was soft, nervous, and Harry backed away from Dean, closing his eyes and forcing the wolf away from the surface.

He turned to Eggsy, who was standing protectively in front of a woman carrying a baby. The tug in Harry's chest reached out again, before he forcefully severed the connection, although it did not entirely alleviate the guilt at frightening Eggsy. “Ready to go?” Harry asked softly. Eggsy nodded, and Harry gestured for him to move past where Dean was still pressed against the wall, his body forming a barrier between the boy and his tormentor. James let out a low snarl, his pitch-black fur spiked up along the back of his neck in a clear sign of aggression. Dean flinched, and Harry didn’t try to fight the smirk that curled around his lips. “Good day, Mr. Baker.”

He stepped away, and followed after Eggsy and his family.

 

***

 

“You can stay here for now,” Mr. Hart said. Eggsy barely heard him, his heart still pounding too loudly in his ears to focus on much of anything. His mum clutched Daisy close, looking about as shocked as he felt. The pair of wolves that had accompanied them for most of the journey had shifted back into men upon crossing the threshold of the Kingsman complex and promptly disappeared into the depths of the house.

Mr. Hart gestured towards his office, “Why don’t we step in here and discuss the terms of your stay?”

Numbly, Eggsy obeyed, taking a seat in the same chair he’d occupied less than twenty-four hours earlier. Michelle took the other seat, looking around the office in amazement. Harry followed them into the room, and a new man Eggsy only vaguely recognized from tabloid photos of the pack silently appeared and slipped into the corner behind them.

As Harry took a seat, he gestured to the other man, “This is Merlin. He’s my second.”

Michelle remembered her manners when Eggsy didn’t, “Pleasure to meet you.”

Merlin just nodded. In spite of the rather unthreatening jumper and glasses, his bald head, broad chest, and natural glower radiated intimidation.

“So, you’re just gonna let us stay here?” Eggsy asked carefully. After being refused so adamantly the last time, he couldn’t understand the Alpha’s change of heart. Though Mr. Hart’s possessive words in front of Dean and his muppets made Eggsy worry that the Alpha had reconsidered Eggsy’s hasty proposal.

“I’m not _just_ going to let you stay here,” Mr. Hart said. “We aren’t running a charity. We don’t take in every sob story off the street. You’ll have to work for it, earn your keep.”

Eggsy resisted the urge to give him the two-fingered salute for suggesting they were a charity case and instead asked, “Work for it?”

“I run a business, so it’s always useful to have someone to help with paperwork and perhaps act as a runner. And we can always use more staff for the complex. I’m sure we can find something for you to do.” Eggsy noticed Mr. Hart’s eyes flick to Merlin, exchanging a look with him that Eggsy couldn’t hope to read.

Mr. Hart cleared his throat and went on, “So long as Mr. Baker is out on the streets, it’s not safe for you to return home. The pack will...take care of him so that we can get you moved out and moved on with your lives as soon as possible.”

“What’re you gonna do?” Eggsy asked. “Kill him?” Beside him, Michelle tensed.

Mr. Hart looked offended at the suggestion, although Eggsy was relieved that he didn’t start shouting like last time. “Of course not. Kingsman is a respectable pack, and I will not have a murder on our reputation. No, we do this legally, without violence, or we don’t do it at all.”

“Fair enough,” Eggsy said.

“And one last thing,” Mr. Hart noted after another glance at Merlin. “Under absolutely _no circumstances_ will anyone in this house turn you. If you so much as ask, you will find yourselves back on the streets immediately. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Eggsy said. “We don’ wanna be turned anyway. I told you before, we’s not that kind of people.”

“Good, then we understand each other.” Mr. Hart made a brief gesture, and Merlin moved away from the wall and held the door open. “Merlin will show you to your rooms, then, and see that you get proper medical attention, should you need it.”

Michelle thanked him and carried Daisy out of the room. Eggsy went to follow, and then paused and turned back. “About what I said yesterday,” he said slowly. “About you keepin’ us safe in exchange for me…with what you said to Dean...”

There had been a strange sort of warmth in Mr. Hart’s eyes for a moment, but at Eggsy’s words it disappeared. “I merely wanted to frighten Mr. Baker. Those words meant absolutely nothing, and if you’re as bright as I hope you are, you’ll never bring them up with me in the future,” he said icily. “I don’t know what sort of man you think I am, but I never want to hear you suggest that I take advantage of you in such an atrocious fashion ever again.”

“Yes, sir,” Eggsy said automatically, surprised at the abrupt shift in the other man. It only then occurred to him that Merlin was still in the room, and he flushed slightly. “Thank you, Mr. Hart.”

“Harry,” the Alpha said. “If you’re living under my roof, you might as well use my name.”

“Thank you, Harry.” Eggsy’s flush deepened, and he backed quickly out of the room.

He didn’t get far enough away, however, to miss Merlin saying quietly, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Harry.”

He also didn’t miss Harry’s equally soft response of, “I hope so too.”

Moments later, Merlin rejoined them, “Follow me.” The distinctly Scottish accent stood out from the rest of the pack, and Eggsy wondered how the Beta (because he had to be a Beta; the second in a werewolf pack was always a Beta, and Eggsy didn’t need to know much about werewolves to know that) had fallen in with Kingsman.

Merlin led them down a series of hallways, past huge floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on a large courtyard with a gorgeous garden just blooming into colour, and up a flight of stairs. Eggsy caught sight of a few people peering at them around corners or out of other rooms, but he ignored them, straightening his back and keeping his gaze fixed firmly ahead. Eventually, Merlin stopped. He gestured to a closed door, “Eggsy, this’ll be your room while you stay with us. Your mother can stay across the hall.” He glanced at Daisy, “We’re not exactly equipped for babies at the moment but your...sister? Your sister can stay with you or your mother and I’ll get someone to sort out a crib for her.”

“Thank you,” Michelle said, relief clear in her voice. When Eggsy looked at his mum, she was practically glowing, and Eggsy suspected it had just hit her that she wouldn’t have to go back to Dean ever again. He smiled at the thought.

“You’re the guv, Merlin,” he said.

Merlin pursed his lips, a crack in his neutral facade appearing, a tiny smile that quickly vanished as he frowned. “Harry will call for you if he has a specific task for you. Otherwise, someone will find you tomorrow and get you set up.” He turned on his heel and strode back down the hall. Halfway down, he turned sharply and said, “Oh, and dinner’s at six thirty, so just find someone and they’ll point you in the right direction.” He turned back and disappeared around a corner.

Eggsy and Michelle exchanged looks, their faces breaking out into broad smiles. “Let’s check out our rooms, yeah?” Eggsy suggested, and she nodded enthusiastically.

 

***

 

“Bit early in the day for drinking, isn’t it?” Merlin commented when he returned to Harry’s study, his nose wrinkling up at the smell. The rest of the pack had gathered too, James sprawled in one of the armchairs with his Omega on his lap, Roxy in the other with her legs neatly crossed and a pleased expression on her face.

Harry glared at Merlin, throwing back the rest of his whiskey and not breaking eye contact as he poured another, ignoring the scent in favour of his need to be at least a little bit drunk right now. He leaned back in his chair, “We’ll need to keep an eye on them.”

“Come on, Harry,” Roxy protested. “Eggsy seems like a good guy. I know you get paranoid with the staff, but-”

“It’s not paranoia if it’s well founded,” Harry snapped. She looked affronted and he sighed, “I’m sorry. Something about him puts me on edge.” That was an understatement.

The pack could tell, too. “I’ve never seen you get so riled up over anyone outside the pack before,” Alistair commented carefully. “It reminded me a bit of James, back when…” The unspoken question hung heavy in the room like cigar smoke, and Harry swallowed hard and tried not to choke on the fumes.

“It’s not like that,” he insisted.

“Are you sure?” Merlin asked.

Harry glared at his second, “Yes, I’m sure.”

“He propositioned you,” Roxy said, not even pretending she hadn’t eavesdropped on their entire conversation. “Maybe that means he can feel it too. Some humans can.”

“I don’t feel anything for him!”

“You can’t lie to us, Harry,” James said. “I heard you talking to those thugs. You said he was yours.”

“Well, he’s not. He’s not my anything, except apparently part of my staff, which is why we need to make sure letting him into our home isn’t a mistake.”

“I’m with Harry on this one,” Merlin said. “We need to ere on the side of caution. Roxy, I really don’t think the reason Eggsy offered himself to Harry was because he felt the pull. He seems like a nice enough lad, but we can’t risk being careless right now.”

Roxy barked out an incredulous laugh, “You think Eggsy’s a spy?”

“I’m saying the timing is a little convenient. But even if he’s not, you weren’t there last time Harry took someone like Eggsy under his wing. This has the potential to end in disaster.”

“Or to end in something amazing!”

“It’s not going to end in anything because nothing is going to happen,” Harry said firmly. Alistair looked crestfallen, and James stroked a soothing hand down his back. “We will do what we always do when we acquire new staff. We keep an eye on them, and we make sure they don’t have some ulterior motive that’s going to spell trouble for us. We say nothing to them about this pull nonsense. Is that understood?”

There were four nods at varying levels of supportiveness. Roxy looked a bit like she’d sucked on a lemon.

“Thank you,” Harry said. He took a larger gulp of whiskey than he probably should have and winced as it burned down his throat. “I’ll see you all at dinner.”

The pack took the dismissal and left the office. Only Merlin stayed behind, and Harry sighed. “What?”

“I’m not going to give you a lecture,” Merlin said. “I wanted to ask about our other problem.”

“What about it?”

“What are you going to do?”

“For now?” Harry said. “I’m going to be civil. Until they threaten us outright, there’s no need to be defensive. London’s big enough for both our packs.”

“If you say so,” Merlin said doubtfully. “I trust your judgement.”

“And I yours.” Harry tilted his head, “What do you think I should do?”

Merlin hesitated, and then said, “I don’t like the idea of you two meeting. There’s something off about him.”

“I quite agree,” Harry said, “but I can handle myself.”

“I know you can. Just be careful.”

“I always am.”

Merlin snorted and shook his head. Harry grinned, “Alright, perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration.”

“More like a blatant lie.”

Harry made a shooing gesture. “Get out of my office,” he said, but there was no ire behind the words, “before I go and make Roxy my second.”

“Yes, sir,” Merlin’s mouth twisted into a rare smile, and he did as Harry asked.

Once the door closed behind him, Harry’s own smile dropped from his face. He contemplated the glass of whiskey for a long moment, and then slammed the rest of it back.

 

***

 

Michelle was swept off by one of the household staff early in the morning, having mentioned over dinner that she was actually pretty good with getting bloodstains out of...well, just about everything, a skill apparently highly prized in a house owned by a pack of werewolves. That left Eggsy without anything to do but wander the compound, carrying Daisy so she wasn’t left alone, and poking about in the rooms that were unlocked.

That was how he ran into Roxy, although not literally as he had with Harry. She’d turned down a hallway just as he’d left a room, and her face lit up when she saw him. “Eggsy! Hi!”

“Hi,” he said cautiously, holding Daisy a little closer. He’d googled the Kingsman pack the night before, wanting to know precisely what he was getting into. Harry was well known, and there were dozens of articles about him, detailing everything from his business to his position as a highly sought after single Alpha to speculation about what sort of shameful secret had caused him to split from his parent’s pack and form his own. In particular, Eggsy had been drawn in by a photo of Harry in wolf form. He was sleek, with chocolate brown fur and a regal stance that radiated power even through a computer screen, and the image evoked something indescribable that curled up and took up residence in Eggsy’s chest. Other photos made Eggsy wince, images of Harry snarling at the camera like a wild animal, even a few with him dripping blood (his or someone else’s? The website hadn’t said), and still others set a fluttery feeling in his stomach, softer photos of Harry out at business functions and the like, including a rather attractive picture of the usually suited Alpha in sweatpants and a t-shirt buying groceries in one of those “famous celebrities are really just like you” articles.

The rest of the pack was harder to find. Merlin was almost non-existent on the Internet, save for a few blurry photos of group shots, usually standing right behind Harry with his apparently customary frown firmly in place, but there were a few articles about the other two men, apparently named James and Alistair, although Eggsy wasn’t quite sure which was which. They were married, and an Alpha/Omega bonded pair, but beyond that Eggsy couldn’t find any details about who they were.

Other than Harry, Roxy had the most information out there. She was a later addition to the pack and a turned werewolf, not a born one, something that had caused quite a stir in a world where getting to join a wolf pack was highly sought after for the status, not to mention the supernaturally good senses and healing factor. She seemed nice enough, but Eggsy couldn’t quite get a read on her.

She seemed to sense it, too, because she smiled and took a step back from him, “We’re not a threat to you, Eggsy. Are you settling in alright?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

She held out her hand, “I didn’t really get a chance to introduce myself properly. I’m Roxy.”

Eggsy stared at her hand, then shifted Daisy to shake it. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do; Roxy knew his name already. He settled for saying, “This is my sister, Daisy.”

“Hello, Daisy,” Roxy cooed. “Aren’t you beautiful?” She looked back at Eggsy, “Why don’t I show you around?”

“Um…” Eggsy rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m supposed to be working. Harry said-”

Roxy waved off his concern, “If Harry has a complaint, he can take it up with me. I’ll just tell him that your job today was keeping me company. Besides, it’ll be good for you to know the lay of the house.”

“If you think Harry will be alright with it…”

“Come on, then,” Roxy said. “It’ll be an adventure!”

Considering the size of the complex, adventure was a pretty accurate word. Roxy showed him the library, the various meeting rooms that Harry sometimes employed for work, and Merlin’s office, which was amazing and Eggsy absolutely could have stayed there all day had the irate Beta not closed the door on them with a pointed, “Roxy, you know better than to come in here when I’m working. Between you and Harry, one of you is going to get this place blown up some day.”

Eventually, they found their way to the courtyard. Eggsy let Daisy down on the grass to poke around in the dirt, and he dropped down on one of the many ornately carved stone benches and watched her with a careful eye. Roxy settled next to him, a silence falling between them, uncomfortable after the easy banter they’d fallen into during the day.

Finally, Eggsy said, “So this whole place is jus’ for the five of you?”

“More or less,” Roxy nodded. “It could house a much bigger pack, but we’re not generally fond of strangers. We go through staff pretty quickly; it’s hard to find people to trust, you know?”

“I get that,” Eggsy nodded. There were a lot of people who were so obsessed with werewolves that he could easily see some trying to get a job here just to be close to the pack.

“Harry didn’t even want to let _me_ into the pack,” Roxy said conversationally. “It took James challenging him for his position as lead Alpha for him to agree.”

That hadn't been on any of the news sites. “Why would he do that?” he asked.

“Alistair’s my uncle,” Roxy explained. “He sort of took me in after my parents died, and then he met James, and they got together, and it was like being their kid, right? I didn't want to be turned like Alistair; I didn't see any point, you know? We were still a family. I wasn't really part of the pack, but it was still home. But then I got sick. Cancer. Alistair was devastated, and James begged Harry to turn me. Harry said death was natural, that we shouldn't turn people just because they're dying, especially when there was still a chance I might pull through. James called him a hypocrite and challenged him for his position as Alpha, and Harry gave in. It probably helped that he knew me, so he likely didn't really want me to die.”

“Why would not turnin’ you make Harry a hypocrite?”

“Harry turned Merlin to save his life.” Roxy shrugged, “I don’t really know the details. Didn’t want to ask.”

Eggsy couldn’t imagine Merlin, strong and terrifying as he was, in any scenario where he needed saving, but it did explain the bond that the two men clearly shared. The thought prickled, and he swallowed around an unpleasant lump in his throat. He barely knew Harry, and he still wasn't convinced the guy wasn't a complete prick. Still, he couldn't help asking, “They’re close, right?”

Roxy nodded, “Merlin’s been Harry’s best friend for ages.”

“And he’s a Beta?”

“Of course. Alphas need a Beta as their second. And Merlin’s even more level-headed than most Betas, which is good because Harry’s probably more hormonal than most Alphas.”

“Really? He didn’t look it. Harry, I mean.”

“He does a good job of hiding it, but if he thought the pack was in danger, Harry would be the first person to throw himself at the threat. He gets in a lot of fights, but it’s always for a good reason. He keeps us safe.”

Knowing that, Eggsy could understand Harry’s reluctance to help him and his family. His pack came first, and it was a risk to accept them into their home. He privately resolved to judge Harry a little less harshly, and to prove to the Alpha that he hadn’t made a mistake in bringing them in.

Settling into life with the Kingsman pack was surprisingly easy. James and Alistair adored Daisy, borrowing her from Eggsy like a pair of enthusiastic uncles, spoiling her rotten and generally being excellent babysitters when Eggsy and Michelle were otherwise occupied. “They’ve always wanted kids,” Roxy explained quietly to Eggsy, “and since James is an Alpha and Alistair’s an Omega, in theory they should be able to have them. None of us understand why they don’t have at least one by now.”

Eggsy knew all about wanting a family; he’d spent a lot of his childhood wishing his dad hadn’t died and his adolescence wishing to get rid of Dean so he, his mum, and Daisy could be a happy family together. So he let the two men watch Daisy and dote on her.

Michelle worked very well with the rest of the staff, but most of Eggsy’s days were spent either with Roxy, hanging around at her private lessons on everything from French to European history to tennis, or in Merlin’s lab, once the Beta had received Eggsy’s solemn word that he wouldn’t touch anything without permission. The former was interesting, if a little hard to follow because of Eggsy’s own limited education, while the latter was absolutely incredible. Merlin’s job seemed to mainly be tinkering around with designs for products for the business, several of which Merlin informed him could in fact blow up if they weren’t careful. Initially, the Beta was quiet while he worked, but once Eggsy started asking questions about what he was doing, Merlin opened up, answering him with a patience few had ever granted Eggsy.

Eventually, Eggsy’s questions shifted from the work to the pack. He was sitting on a lab bench across from Merlin, swinging his feet gently and watching as the Beta bent over a project that had been especially frustrating for him to get right, when he finally asked, “So why are you lot called Kingsman anyway?”

“You really don't know?” Merlin asked without looking up, which was how Eggsy had gotten used to speaking to him.

“Should I?”

Merlin shrugged, “Some of the tabloids picked it up, or a slightly doctored version anyway.”

“I don’ read the tabloids,” Eggsy said.

“Really?”

“Do you?”

“No,” Merlin admitted. “They're mostly trash. But Harry does. Likes to keep up with the rumours, and he loves to complain about how stupid it all is, how proper gentlemen shouldn’t be in the paper so much and anyone with a lick of sense wouldn’t believe half the stuff they put out anyway. But I thought you would have known. Just about everyone in London seems to know all about us, or they think they do.”

Eggsy shrugged, “I know what I need to know ‘bout wolves. Everythin’ else ain't really my business.”

“Touché,” Merlin inclined his head, “but to your original question, about Kingsman, it’s something of a joke. Back when I was human, I worked for the military. I was a tech specialist, and Merlin was my nickname. Liked it a sight better than my real one, so eventually I just started goin’ by that. Harry and I were friends, so when he turned me and started his own pack as Alpha a couple people made jokes that he was the King Arthur to my Merlin, ‘specially since Harry’s about as close to royalty as you can get with werewolves. The Harts are an old bloodline, and it caused quite a scandal when Harry turned me. James was an old friend of Harry’s family, good bloodline there too, and when he and Alistair wanted in, people started calling the pair of them the kingsmen, since they were basically Harry’s ‘knights.’ Harry liked it so much that the name stuck for the pack.”

Eggsy hesitated before saying softly, “Rox says Harry turned you ‘cause you was dying.”

That earned him a glance from Merlin, who looked vaguely surprised, but then nodded and returned to his work, “Aye. I didn’t want to be a wolf, didn’t give a fuck about Harry’s status or his bloodline. Tha’s why we got on so well. But I got shot. Ended up comatose, got an honourable discharge. Doctors thought I’d never wake up again. I didn’t have any family left, so when Harry came to visit me and found out they were going to pull life support, he made the decision to turn me. Saved my life.”

“So, Harry turned you, and you’re a Beta,” Eggsy said, curious but trying to make it sound like he wasn’t fishing. “James turned Alistair, and he’s an Omega, but he also turned Roxy, and she’s a Beta too.”

Merlin sighed, “Just ask the question, lad.”

“When a werewolf turns you, what determines what you’re gonna be?” He quickly added, “I’m not askin’ for my own benefit or anythin,’ I just wanna know.”

“How much do you know about werewolf culture, Eggsy? Not like pack politics, but the science behind it.” Merlin had the same look on his face that he got when he was trying to decide if an experiment was worth doing, or if it was just going to blow up in his face.

“Honestly, not much. There’s not a lot online or anything.”

“That’s because wolves tend to be pretty private about our species,” Merlin said.

“Oh.”

Merlin rolled his eyes and mumbled something that sounded like, “Probably going to regret this.” He set down what he was working on and said more clearly, “Did Roxy explain to you how James and Alistair got together?”

Eggsy shook his head.

“They’re...well, soulmates isn’t too far off.”

“Really?” Eggsy’s eyes widened.

Merlin nodded. “It’s not so much that there’s one person out there who’d be perfect for us,” he explained, “so much as it’s there are a few people who are extremely compatible. When a wolf finds someone like that, they feel this sort of pull towards them, this desire to be close to them, to keep them safe. James took one look at Alistair and knew; they would be perfect for each other.”

“Wow. Do humans ever feel the pull too? Or is it just wolves?”

“Sometimes they can, sometimes they can’t. Alistair says he didn’t. James courted him as a human, but after they were married he told him the truth, and Alistair asked James to turn him then. Wanted to bond him properly, he says, and wanted to feel the whole soulmate thing for himself, if I had to guess.”

“And the pull is about being compatible? Like, bein’ made for each other?”

“Aye. When a wolf turns someone they feel the pull towards, that person becomes whatever will complete them best. James is an Alpha, so Alistair became an Omega. If he’d been a Beta, so would Alistair have been.”

“And you and Rox?”

“A werewolf who is born can be an Alpha, Beta, or Omega. But one who is turned, if the wolf turning them doesn’t feel that pull, if they aren’t soulmates, the person they’re turning will always be a Beta.”

“So you an’ Harry…?” Eggsy flushed slightly.

Merlin frowned, not like he was angry but like he was contemplating a particularly elusive and worrying experiment, the ones that gave him results he wasn’t sure he wanted. “Harry and I are friends,” he said carefully. “Nothing more. Why?”

“No reason.” Eggsy couldn’t have said himself what had prompted him to ask, only that an overwhelming need had suddenly struck him and he’d spoken without thinking. Nor could he explain the warmth that spread through his chest at Merlin’s answer. “So do soulmates, people who feel the pull or whatever, do they always work out?”

Merlin’s face closed off. “Not always,” he said cryptically, and went quiet. Eggsy stopped asking questions.

 

***

 

“You did what?” Harry tried very hard not to yell at Merlin, given that he generally trusted his second’s judgement completely, but it was difficult not to given what Merlin had just told him.

The Beta didn’t so much as flinch. “I know what I said when he got here, but Eggsy’s one of the best fits for Kingsman since Roxy joined.” At Harry’s sputtering protests, Merlin raised a hand, “I’m not saying’ we turn him, Harry. I’m saying, James and Alistair haven’t been this happy in a long while, and Roxy adores Eggsy. Hell, I like the lad, and that’s saying a lot.”

“I explicitly said that no one should tell Eggsy-”

“I didn’t tell him you felt anything, Harry. I just told him about the concept.”

“I don’t-” Harry protested.

“Stop lying to yourself, Harry. I know why you avoid him like the plague. We’ve all noticed. And honestly? I think Roxy’s right. I think he feels it too.”

Harry stiffened. “What makes you say that?”

“The lad looked extremely relieved when I informed him that we were in no way a couple.”

Harry couldn’t help the short bark of laughter at that thought. Merlin was his best friend, and to think of him any other way was a bit ludicrous. “That could mean anything,” Harry said stubbornly, even as the wolf inside him purred at the idea of Eggsy wanting him too.

“Or it could mean that your boy wants you as much as you want him.”

“He’s not my boy.”

“But he could be.”

“Are you seriously suggesting what I think you’re suggesting? After what happened last time?”

Merlin shifted, “I just think we may have been hasty in our initial judgements. You’re living in the past, Harry. Maybe it’s time.”

“It most certainly is not,” Harry shook his head. “We have too much on our plates right now, Merlin. We have to remain focused.”

“I take it the initial meeting did not go well?”

“They weren’t even trying to hide how blatantly they were lying. I’m going to see them again next week to discuss the terms of them moving to London. If this is going to mean war for our pack, I can’t allow myself to be distracted by _anything_. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

 

***

 

“So why don’t you lot turn into wolves all the time?” Eggsy asked Roxy, sprawled out on the grass next to her after a particularly exhausting tennis lesson where she’d recruited him to play doubles. They were watching Alistair, who had shifted into a sandy-blond wolf and was rolling around on his back for Daisy’s amusement as James looked on and laughed at his partner’s antics.

“Being a werewolf in the city can be overwhelming,” Roxy explained. “Our senses are heightened even in human form, but they’re so much stronger as wolves. That, and it’s easier to get around as a human; giant wolves aren’t exactly inconspicuous.”

“Fair enough,” Eggsy said. He watched Daisy pat Alistair, whose tongue lolled out like he was a real dog. “What d’you look like, then? As a wolf, I mean.”

“More or less like Alistair,” she responded. “My colouring’s a bit lighter than his, and I’m a little bit smaller. And, of course, my eyes are blue.”

They lapsed back into silence for a few minutes, and then Eggsy said, “So, Merlin explained the pull thing to me. That soulmate stuff?”

Roxy sat up sharply, “He did?”

Eggsy sat up too, “Yeah. Well, just the basics. Compatibility and stuff. I was just wondering how common it was. I mean, James and Alistair are mated, but none of the rest of you are.”

“Well, I’m pretty young,” Roxy said, “and I don’t get out much, what with how protective Harry is of the pack. Merlin probably could be mated if he wanted to, but he always says he doesn’t need a mate when he’s got a family. And that’s all fine for us; we’re Betas, so the pull is less common for us. But Harry’s a bit of an exception.”

“He is? Why?”

“Pack Alphas, the leaders, they tend to mate early. In fact, very few Alphas start a pack without having an Omega by their side. It makes the pack stronger. But Harry’s shied away from romance as long as I’ve known him. I think Merlin knows why, but he won’t say.”

“D’you think something happened to him?” Eggsy asked. “Like, maybe ‘e was in love an’ they died or something.” The thought hurt, an ache deep in Eggsy’s gut that surprised him.

“Maybe,” Roxy said. “I don’t know.”

A shadow loomed over them, and Eggsy tilted his head back, “Oh, hey Merlin.”

“Hello, Eggsy. Roxy, I’ve got the files Harry requested from the lab. Do you think you could run it over to him? I would, but what I’m working on is a tiny bit delicate and I really don’t want to leave it alone too long.”

Roxy took the folder, “Got it, Merlin.” Even before the words were out of her mouth, the Beta had already rushed off the way he came. Roxy flopped back on the ground, “Ugh. I don’t want to get up. It’s such a nice day.”

Eggsy held out his hand, “Give it here, Rox.”

“What for?”

“I’ll bring it to Harry.” At Roxy’s surprised expression, Eggsy said, “Look, just let me do it, alright? You’re not Harry’s secretary, and I am supposed to be earnin’ my keep. And this way, you don’t ‘ave to get up.”

“Alright,” Roxy handed over the files, and Eggsy hopped to his feet.

Despite the fact that it was Harry’s house, Eggsy hadn’t actually seen the Alpha since his arrival.  Each step towards Harry’s office twisted eagerness and nervous anticipation into Eggsy’s chest, blending the two until he couldn’t be sure if he truly wanted to take the final step or not. Raising his hand to knock on the office door seemed a herculean task, and turning the knob and pushing the door open at the answering “Come in” even more so.

Harry didn’t look up from his papers at first, bent low over his desk and running his fingers distractedly through his hair. Given how dishevelled it was, Eggsy would guess he’d been doing it a lot. Without a word, he carefully took the few steps required to cross the room and hesitantly laid the file down on the edge of Harry’s desk.

Harry’s head snapped up, his eyes wide, and Eggsy swallowed hard against the abrupt ache that welled in his chest. “Eggsy,” Harry said dumbly. “What are you doing here?”

Eggsy nodded lamely towards the folder, “Merlin said you asked for those.”

“Oh. Right, I suppose I did.” Harry pulled the file closer and flipped it open, skimming over the top page. He glanced up at where Eggsy still stood, frozen. “Can I help you?”

“No, sir!” Eggsy said quickly. He backed towards the door, once he found his feet again. “Sorry to bother you.” He paused in the doorway, “Actually, there was one thing.”

“Yes?”

“I never asked how yous was getting on with the thing about Dean.”

“The court system is very slow, Eggsy, but rest assured it is being handled.” Harry directed his gaze back down at the desk, but Eggsy got the feeling it was more to avoid his eyes than to return to his work.

“Look, if you’ve got a problem with me, just spit it out,” Eggsy snapped, suddenly irritated and hurt. He wasn’t trash. Looking at him wouldn’t kill Harry. Eggsy just wasn’t sure why it was so important to him.

Harry looked up again, that quiet heat flaring behind his eyes, and Eggsy braced himself to be shouted at again. But Harry’s voice was even when he said, “I don’t have a problem with you, Eggsy. In fact, my pack seems rather fond of you.”

“Oh.” Eggsy grinned, rocking back on his heels. “Yeah? And what about you?”

The moment the words were out of his mouth, a bucket of ice water crashed over his head. Harry blinked, looking equally frozen. “You are...tolerable,” the Alpha said eventually.

“Right,” Eggsy said. The crushing disappointment slithered into his chest again, and he edged backwards, “That’s, uh, all I wanted to ask, thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Eggsy.”

He all but slammed the door shut behind him, leaning back against it and whispering, “What the hell was that? Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

There was a delicate clearing of the throat on the other side of the door. “I can still hear you, you know.”

Eggsy’s cheeks burned bright red, but he kept his further berations of himself completely silent when he hurried away down the corridor.

 

***

 

“Are you alright?” Merlin asked, his strides even with Harry’s as the pair made their way deeper into one of the more out-of-the-way parts of London. “You seem...distracted.”

“I saw Eggsy today.”

“He’s been living at the complex a month now,” Merlin pointed out. “Even with you avoiding him, I’m pretty sure you should see him on a regular basis.”

“Well, I don’t,” Harry said. In the darkness, he was hopeful Merlin couldn’t make out the faint colour dusting his cheeks.

“You’re putting an awful lot of effort into keeping away. Seems a pretty far length to go to, seeing as he supposedly doesn’t matter all that much to you,” the Beta said knowingly.

Harry didn’t confirm or deny that speculation, although he did grimace. “This is precisely why I didn’t want him around,” he said instead. “He’s driving me to distraction, thinking about those bloody blue eyes and the way he shuffles his feet when he gets nervous, do you know I don’t think he realizes he’s doing it? And the way he smells-”

“Like an air freshener, from what you’ve said,” Merlin’s eye roll was implied in his statement, so Harry didn’t bother to see if his second had made the gesture as well. “I’m personally not so impressed. You don’t have to run from him, you know.”

“After last time-”

“Eggsy is not Mark, Harry, and you’re not the same person you were then.”

“He’s a human.”

“So was Alistair, but that didn’t stop James. Besides, you know he’s not using you for your status. Hell, he’s hardly left the compound since he got here, and when he does it’s mostly just to keep Roxy company. I heard he actually decked a photographer who was harassing her. Other people might have posed.”

“He’s half my age.”

“He’s an adult who can make his own decisions about whether or not you’re too old for him. The point is, you have to let him make a decision, and he can’t do that if you quit the race before they fire off the starter pistol. Stop making excuses and do something.”

Harry held out a hand to quiet his second. He stopped, “I think this is it.”

“Too right you are.” The voice echoed slightly, and a pair stepped out from the shadows and into the circle of light cast by a nearby streetlamp. “Mr. Hart. So good to see you again.”

“You’ll understand if I don’t return the sentiment, Mr. Valentine,” Harry responded calmly. Beside him, Merlin glared at Valentine’s second, a Beta with eyes even more piercing than the sharpened prosthetics she wore.

Valentine clicked his tongue, “It’s a shame we can’t be more civilized, isn’t it, Mr. Hart?”

“A shame indeed.”

“You understand, of course, why it had to happen this way.”

“Naturally.” Harry felt the wolf in his chest pacing, demanding. He took a subtle breath and told himself to wait another few heartbeats. “Shall we settle this like gentlemen, then?”

“I assure you, Mr. Hart, that there is nothing gentlemanly about what’s about to happen here.” Valentine’s grin was broad, and it grew broader still as his jaw twisted and elongated. Harry snarled and leapt forward, snapping his teeth as his clawed hands met with rapidly growing fur.

 

***

 

Eggsy jumped to his feet as a great grey wolf came crashing through the dining room door, nearly knocking it off its hinges when he collided with it. Next to him, Roxy gasped. Eggsy didn’t blame her; his heart suddenly felt like it’d been torn from his chest and shredded on the floor in front of him.

Merlin gently deposited a limp figure by his feet, the matted fur a darker, wetter brown than it should have been, red puddling onto the floor around their feet. He shifted back, a roll of the shoulders up onto two legs, tears at his flesh already partway healing as they appeared under receding fur, although he limped when he stumbled forward to grasp onto a chair.

“Harry!” Alistair and James were by their Alpha’s side in a flash, and Roxy hurried forward too, the three managing to lift the wolf enough to cart him down the hallway, moving swiftly in the direction of the medical wing.

Eggsy moved to Merlin’s side, supporting the Beta in spite of the other man trying to wave him off. “What ‘appened?”

“Business matter.”

“Harry looks half dead,” Eggsy snapped, “and you’re not much better off! So don’t give me some ‘business matter’ bullshit. What ‘appened?”

Merlin attempted to shrug Eggsy off again and walk another few feet on his own, but he staggered and Eggsy caught him. Sprinting across London with his wounds and an injured Harry in tow couldn’t have been easy, and Eggsy had to admit he was impressed with the Beta’s endurance, although he could have done without some of the stubbornness. “It really was a business matter,” Merlin grumbled. “Pack business. New Alpha moving in on London. Harry’s not very territorial, ‘cept when it comes to the complex, but the newcomers were. It came down to a fight.”

“Who won?”

Merlin gave him a long, hard look. “We’re still standing, aren’t we?”

A shiver ran down Eggsy’s spine. “So...they’re dead? I thought Harry wasn’t about killing.”

“Werewolf business and human business have different rules,” Merlin said darkly. “Kingsman would have been in danger, not to mention all the other packs in London. Harry did what he had to do.”

“Christ.” Those photos of Harry, the ones where he wore a snarl and dripped blood, flashed back into Eggsy’s mind.

They got to the medical wing, where staff was already bustling about getting a prone Harry hooked up to a variety of terrifying machines. One nurse took Merlin off Eggsy’s hands, making disapproving comments about the state of Merlin’s leg.

Roxy tugged Eggsy back into the hallway. “Come on,” she whispered. “Let them work.”

“Why isn’t Harry changin’ back?” Eggsy asked, not so much walking as allowing himself to be moved.

“His wounds are pretty bad. He needs to stabilize before he can handle a transformation, or he might end up in even worse shape.”

“But he’ll be okay, though, won’t he?”

Roxy hesitated a second too long, and Eggsy’s heart, still in ribbons on the floor, gave one last shudder of life and then went completely still. “He’ll be fine,” she said eventually, her voice full of a false confidence that grated against Eggsy’s ears. “He’s Harry. He’s always fine.”

It was three days, three full days of agonizing pacing, begging the nurses to let him in, even just for a moment, trying to get a glimpse through the tiny window into the room they were keeping Harry in, before anyone would let Eggsy see Harry.

He tried not to take it personally; none of the other pack members, not even Merlin, were allowed in to see him. Merlin was released twenty-four hours after he’d arrived, the majority of his wounds already healed with only a crutch and a leg brace to show that he’d been injured at all. No one commented that Eggsy really should be working instead of waiting around outside the medical wing all day, and Merlin and Roxy even sat with him sometimes, the former not saying a word and the latter trying to cheer him up with hopeful thoughts and stories about what she’d been doing that day.

But finally, on day three, a nurse stepped out of Harry’s room, made eye contact with Eggsy where he sat on the floor, and nodded. Eggsy sprang to his feet and ducked into the room.

He physically recoiled at the sight of Harry, the breath leaving him like he’d slammed headfirst into an invisible brick wall. The man looked like he still had one foot in the grave, even with his advanced werewolf healing. There were bandages covering large portions of his body that hid what Eggsy guessed were large chunks of flesh that had been torn away or bitten off. A jagged slash arced across the side of his face, just barely missing the left eye. One of his arms was in a cast. And none of that accounted for the fact that Harry’s skin was entirely obscured by mottled bruises ranging from black to purple to ugly yellow and brown. Eggsy thought he might be sick, but he swallowed back whatever heaving he might have done and instead took a seat gingerly on the stool by Harry’s bedside.

“Is ‘e gonna be alright?” he asked the nurse softly.

“He shifted back this morning,” she responded. “That’s a good sign. But he’s still unconscious. Until he wakes up, we won’t be able to get the full scope of the damage. You’re welcome to sit with him, though.” She headed down the hall, leaving Eggsy alone in the room with Harry.

Eggsy hesitated, and then scooted his stool closer to the bed. “Hi Harry,” he said quietly aloud, feeling stupid. “Yous supposed to talk to coma patients, right? Supposed to help ‘em wake up or something.” He fell silent for a moment, and then sighed. “I really want you to wake up, Harry. I think I’m startin’ to get it now. I didn’t really understand for a while what was goin’ on with me, why I got so ‘appy when I saw you smile and why it ‘urt so much when you pushed me away. But then I saw you, bleedin’ everywhere, looking...shit, Harry, you looked dead already. And it felt like something inside me died with you. I don’t...I don’t know if it’s that pull thing Merlin told me about. It can’t be. You would ‘ave said something, right? Even if it was to just tell me to fuck off because it didn’t matter to you. But we don’t have to be soulmates for me to love you.” He laughed, “And fuck, Harry, I think I love you.”

He drummed his fingers against his thigh, “It sounds kind of stupid, hearing myself say it. I barely know you, right? How the fuck can you fall in love with someone you don’ know? But...I think I do. And it’s okay that you don’t feel that way, really. Just...wake up, please? I’m not askin’ for true love’s kiss or nothin’, I just want to see your eyes again.”

He laughed, wiping his eyes, swollen with tears that he couldn’t tell were sorrowful or joyful. “God, I’m a sap,” he said. “‘S alright, though. You can’t really hear me, can you?”

“Eggsy.”

Eggsy jumped, nearly falling out of his seat. He swivelled slightly to see Merlin leaning against the doorway. “How long ‘ave you been standin’ there?”

“Long enough.” The Beta walked into the room, taking the seat on Harry’s other side. He smoothed a gentle hand over the Alpha’s forehead, pushing his messy curls back out of his face. He didn’t look at Eggsy when he said, “It’s always hard to see him like this. Admittedly, I don’t think it’s ever been this bad before, but it’s far from the first time Harry’s got himself into a hospital bed.”

“Merlin…”

The Beta looked up at him, and the look in his eyes silenced whatever words might have spilled over Eggsy’s lips, sending them sliding back down his throat to choke him up. “Harry’s been my best friend for years,” Merlin said quietly. “He attracts trouble like a magnet, but I’ve always tried to keep him safe. I know better than most how easy it is to love him.”

Eggsy stiffened, and a small smile played around the corner of Merlin’s lips. “Not like that, lad. Harry’s family to me. I’d do just about anything for him. As, I suspect, would you.”

“Anything,” Eggsy nodded.

Merlin stood, resting his hand on Harry’s shoulder for a brief moment before rounding the bed to hover over Eggsy, “Harry’s been in love before. And because of that, he swore he would never love again.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I think Harry deserves to be happy,” Merlin said. “And because I think maybe you can make him happy. Ask him about what happened.”

“What if he doesn’t want to tell me?”

“I think he will.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know Harry.” Merlin strode to the door. “Ask him, Eggsy, and see what he says.” The Beta slipped out into the hallway and out of sight.

Eggsy glanced down at Harry, “Did you understand any of that cryptic shit?”

Harry remained silent. Eggsy sighed, “Yeah, me neither.”

 

***

 

“-says her tennis lessons ain’t anywhere near as fun without me there, but I think she just wants me to get some fresh air, you know? That, or she thinks torturing me will get my mind off you never wakin’ up. You ever played tennis with Rox? She’s a beast, she is. Besides, I want to be ‘ere when you wake up. I know yous goin’ to; Merlin says you’re too stubborn to let this beat you. He says you should ‘ave been a werecat, not a werewolf, considering how many times you’ve nearly died. Are they real? Werecats? I feel like we would have heard about them if they was real, but who knows?”

Harry might have laughed if his entire body didn’t feel submerged in molasses. Sticky, heavy molasses, full of jellyfish stingers that pricked at him every time he tried to move. He settled for a little huff of air out his nose, and the speaker trailed off. “Harry?”

The inhale brought with it the sterile scent of a well-scrubbed hospital room, but also hints of lemon and pine with standard notes of fear running under it, although they were much more subtle now than Harry had smelled before. A low purr rumbled in his chest before he could stop it, and he coughed slightly and worked to blink his eyes open. Gradually, a face above his swam into view, a bright pair of blue eyes staring excitedly down at him.

“You’re awake!” Eggsy crowed. Harry felt a soft pressure on his fingers and followed the line of his arm with his eyes to see that Eggsy had squeezed his hand, which tingled at the contact. Eggsy pulled away, messing with something out of Harry’s line of sight. “I knew yous was going to wake up,” Eggsy told him. “I’ve called the doctor. She’ll be in to check you out.”

Had Eggsy been sitting there the whole time? Harry forced his brain to reboot, chasing after the words he’d heard as he first breached consciousness. Eggsy had been saying something about...Merlin and werecats and Roxy and tennis...and not wanting to leave so he could be there when Harry woke up. The wolf in his chest purred louder, but Harry was awake enough now to keep it from being audible.

Morgana, Kingsman’s longest-employed resident doctor, bustled into the room, shooing Eggsy out of it so she could work. “You'll get to see him later,” she scolded, physically moving Eggsy from the room with a firm hand on his shoulder. “Now let me do my work.” She shut the door behind him with a firm, defiant click, and rounded on Harry, “As for you, Mr. Hart, I'm sure you don't need me to lecture you about the importance of _not_ ending up in the medical wing. I imagine you have that speech fairly memorized by now.”

Harry grumbled, more a low noise in his throat than words.

He regretted it when Morgana snapped, “Don't get sharp with me, Harry Hart. You may be an Alpha and you may sign my paychecks, but in this room, I'm the boss.”

If he was able, Harry would have said “yes, ma’am" without a trace of irony and with his tail tucked between his legs. As it was, he arranged his features into an expression of appropriate contrition. Completely human though she was, Morgana was far scarier than any werewolf Harry had ever come across, which was probably why she'd made it at Kingsman so long.

Eventually, she deemed that he would live, a hint of sarcastic bite to her voice, and confined him to bed rest for the foreseeable future. At Harry's protests, she pointed out that the bones in his left arm had been crushed practically to dust, and that a large portion of his muscles has been shredded. Even with how fast he could heal, there was no sense in worsening his condition needlessly.

Merlin came to visit him shortly after Morgana left. The Beta looked better than Harry expected, even with a brace on his leg, but then Merlin always was tough. And less reckless than Harry by a long shot. His memories of the battle were fuzzy, but he knew himself well enough to know he took the brunt of the attack.

“Are you alright?” he asked anyway.

“I feel a lot better than you look,” Merlin responded. “What about you?”

“I'm fine, all things considered.”

Merlin pursed his lips. “Good,” he said, but the calmness in his voice couldn't hide the worry rolling off him in waves.

“Eggsy was here,” Harry said quietly, hoping to distract his friend.

“I know. The lad’s hardly left your side since they let him see you.”

“Oh,” Harry said faintly. “Has he?”

Merlin gave him a knowing look, “He was _very_ worried about you.”

Harry deflected that line of thought, “How long have I been out? Morgana didn't say.”

“About a week and a half.”

Not the longest Harry had ever been unconscious, but worrying nonetheless. He circled back to the previous thought before he could stop himself, “And Eggsy was really here the whole time?”

“When someone wasn't prying him away to shower, aye. He slept here most nights, only ate when someone came to bring him food. He talked to you.”

“Yes, I heard a bit of that when I woke up.”

“Harry…”

“ _Merlin_.” Harry set his jaw, narrowing his eyes at his second stubbornly.

Merlin sighed, “He cares for you, Harry. You don't have to marry him, just let him care about you. Goodness knows, you could use a few more people looking out for you. Might keep you out of a hospital bed for a change.”

Harry considered the warmth that flowed through him just thinking about Eggsy, about the bubbly feeling in his chest when he locked eyes with the young man, the tingles that shot across his skin whenever they touched. Then he remembered what had happened the last time he'd felt like that, and he shoved the feelings away. “I'll think about it,” he said, mostly to appease the Beta.

“You might not get a choice in the matter,” Merlin said. “Eggsy’s very determined, and I imagine it's only a matter of time before he's back in here.” Merlin stood. “Eggsy’s not Mark,” he said again. “You could stand to give him a chance.” He left, leaving Harry staring after him, a dark snake coiling in his gut and a curse hanging silently on his lips.

Merlin was simultaneously right and wrong; Eggsy did eventually drift back to Harry's bedside, but it wasn't nearly as soon as the Beta had implied. Approximately forty-nine hours and twenty minutes after he'd been banished by Morgana - not that Harry was counting - Eggsy poked his head into the room, “Hey. I'm not disturbing you, am I?”

Harry was tempted to feign sleep, but Eggsy had caught him with his eyes open. Barring that, he wanted to tell Eggsy that it wasn't a good time, but the nervous yet eager look in the young man's eyes twisted at Harry's stomach, and he sighed. “It's fine, Eggsy. Do come in. A gentleman doesn't loiter in doorways.”

“Who says I’m a gentleman?” Eggsy grinned playfully, and Harry caught the scent of relief as the younger man approached, taking a seat by Harry’s bedside. Harry adjusted the bed so he could be in an approximation of sitting up. “You look like shit, Harry.”

“I feel worse.” He couldn’t help the slight grin that spread across his face, and Eggsy smiled too. “Merlin says you sat by my bedside the whole time I was unconscious.”

“You don’ remember?”

Was he mistaken in thinking that Eggsy sounded crestfallen? “I’m afraid not,” he said. “But I thank you for your dedication to my well being.”

“I didn’t really do nothing.”

“On the contrary, Eggsy, I’m rather touched by the gesture.” Harry almost regretted the brutal honesty, but it was so hard to remind himself why it was a terrible idea when it made Eggsy look so happy. He hesitated, and then asked, “Why do it, though? We aren’t exactly close.”

Eggsy shrugged, “I guess I wanted to change that. You’re a good guy, Harry, and I didn’t really see that at first. And I know you don’t trust me, but I wish you would. I’d like to be friends.”

Harry could hear Eggsy’s heartbeat, but he couldn’t tell if it was simply wild, or if the boy was lying. Perhaps a touch of both. “I’d like that too,” he said quietly, and when it read as a lie to his own senses, he honestly couldn’t tell what the truth was; that he wanted far less, or far, far more.

 

***

 

Being Harry’s friend was absolute agony, and Eggsy wouldn’t have given it up for anything in the world. Well, nearly anything. But as far as he could tell, what he really wanted was off the cards, so he contented himself with the Alpha’s smaller change of heart. Eggsy was too chicken to confess his feelings when Harry wasn’t unconscious, and he was loath to risk giving up the victory he’d scored.

He still spent most of his time in Harry’s room, keeping the Alpha company while he healed. When Harry saw his reflection in a mirror for the first time since he’d woken up, the Alpha gasped and threw back his head in horror. He requested immediately for a razor to be brought to him.

“But you can’t use your hand,” Eggsy reminded him.

“My left hand is the useless one, not my right,” Harry said stiffly.

“You can’t shave one-handed, Harry.”

“And why not?”

Eggsy rolled his eyes, “Because you’ll nick yourself, and your face is already messed up enough as it is.”

It was really hard not to find Harry’s pouting endearing. Hesitantly, knowing it might overstep the tentative boundaries of friendship they had been laying down, Eggsy offered, “I could do it for you.”

Harry blinked, like he was momentarily stunned, before he slowly responded, “Yes, I suppose that would be alright. Anything to get rid of this God-awful beard.”

Eggsy really wondered if he was a masochist. He’d never shaved anyone else before, and it was more intimate than he’d anticipated. Eggsy couldn’t tell if he was imagining Harry holding his breath every time Eggsy’s hands came into contact with his face. “I’m not hurting you, am I?” he asked.

“No,” Harry whispered. “No, you’re not hurting me.” The Alpha’s eyes were wide, staring at Eggsy, who couldn’t hold their gaze for more than a few seconds before he needed to look away.

Finally, he murmured, “You’re done.” He handed Harry the mirror, and the Alpha gripped it tightly with his good hand, turning it so he could view his face from all angles.

“Do you think it’ll scar?” he asked, not able to gesture properly, but Eggsy could only imagine he was talking about the slash mark down the side of his face, still fairly visible even as many of his lesser wounds faded back into solid pink flesh.

“You’ll look a proper werewolf if it does,” Eggsy joked to ease the tension lingering between them. “Like in the old movies. Theys always got a couple of really cool scars to make ‘em look tough.”

Harry snorted, “I’m hardly interested in looking ‘tough,’ Eggsy.”

“Nah, all that preening and puffing up is just for fun, right?”

Harry narrowed his eyes at Eggsy, who worried for a moment that he had overstepped his bounds, before Harry said, “A gentleman should always look his best, Eggsy. Even if it means appearing a bit vain to others.”

“And you’re a gentleman?”

“Certainly.”

“I hate to break it to ya, Harry,” Eggsy teased, “but you’re looking a bit rough right now. I definitely wouldn’t call it your best.”

“Oh?” Harry raised an eyebrow and smirked, “And what, exactly, would you say my best is, then?”

Eggsy stuttered, forcibly hitting the brakes on his train of thought before the honest answer of “probably wearing nothing at all” could slip past his lips. He rubbed the back of his neck and settled on the slightly safer answer of, “Your suits, probably. I mean, you wear them like a fucking model.”

“Did you know I can tell when you’re lying?” Harry asked mildly.

Eggsy flushed, “Alright, fine. You’re right fit, Harry, and I saw this photo, on the Internet? And yous was wearing this tight t-shirt and sweatpants and lookin’ soft, lookin’ like a normal bloke. It’s not fancy or nothin’, but it makes you look...I dunno, nice. Approachable.”

Harry blinked, like that wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting, but if he still thought Eggsy was lying, he didn’t call him out on it again. Instead he asked, very quietly, like he was afraid to know the answer, “Eggsy, when we first met, you offered yourself to me. I presume you meant in the biblical sense, given that you compared it to being my Omega.”

“Yes.” Bile rose in the back of Eggsy’s throat, and he reminded himself that Harry was bedridden. If this was him changing his mind, he’d have a hell of a time catching Eggsy.

“May I ask why?”

Eggsy tried not to sound defensive when he asked, “Why? Thinkin’ of taking me up on it?”

“Of course not!” There was that flash of anger that Eggsy remembered, and it was surprisingly soothing. Harry took a deep breath, and continued, “I’m just trying to understand.”

“Okay,” Eggsy said. “Okay. I told you Kingsman was me an’ my mum’s last chance to get away from Dean, right?”

“Yes.”

“I was desperate,” Eggsy explained. “I’d’a done just about anything if it meant gettin’ out of there. I didn’t really mean to offer it, but when you turned me down it just sorta came out, and I figured why not? Dean’d made me do some stuff like that before, not much mind you,” he added defensively, “but yeah. Some. At least this way I’d be doin’ it for my family, you know?”

Harry looked stricken, like he was suddenly in a great deal of pain, and Eggsy asked in alarm, “Are you alright?”

Harry waved off his concern with his good hand, “I’m fine, Eggsy, really.” He sighed, “You’re not the first person to offer yourself to me like that, you know. Most people do it because they want me to turn them, or because they want to say they’ve slept with me, or they want my money. But a gentleman does not accept such offers. Had I known why you thought to offer yourself to me, I would have been far kinder in refusing.  I’m truly sorry for how I rejected you.”

That was...surprisingly sincere. “Thank you?” Eggsy said hesitantly. He cleared his throat, “Can we talk about something else?”

“Of course,” Harry said. He laid the mirror down on his bedside table and said, “Do you know I collect butterflies?”

“What, like in a greenhouse?”

“No, as in I pin them and hang them on my wall.”

“You’re fucking joking, right?”

 

***

 

“What is that doing in here?” Harry asked, eyeing the puppy drooling on the foot his bed with suspicion.

Eggsy beamed, “I was out with Rox, and I found him! He was left in a trash can, Harry, and I couldn’t just leave him there. I figure werewolves probably aren’t really fans of dogs, but I was wonderin’ if I could keep him?”

Eggsy was right; generally speaking, werewolves were not fond of dogs. They smelled, for one thing, and it was a bit uncomfortable to keep a pet that served as a reminder that werewolves were really just what one got when one put a human and a dog together. Harry, however, had never been like most werewolves. At least, according to his parents. “Quite the contrary, I’m rather fond of dogs. I had one myself when I was a boy. Mr. Pickle, I called him. Drove my parents insane. No, I merely wanted to know why he was in my hospital room.”

“Oh.” Eggsy flushed. “I wanted to show him to you. Merlin says you get lonely when I go out.”

“Does he now?” Harry made a mental note to give the Beta a firm talking to the next time he saw him. “Does he have a name?”

“Merlin? You’d know that better than me.”

“The dog.”

“Oh. Duh. JB.”

“JB?”

“It’s short for Jack Bauer,” Eggsy said proudly.

“You like spy films?” Harry asked in surprise.

Eggsy nodded, “I always wanted to be a spy when I was a kid. Thought it’d be so cool to have all those gadgets, running around with stuff exploding.” He paused, and then asked, “Do you like spy films, Harry?”

“I have a weakness for the old Bond films,” Harry admitted.

Eggsy lit up, “We should have a movie marathon. We could watch all the Bond films. I haven’t seen all of them yet, could be fun.”

Instead of protesting, Harry heard himself agreeing, “That sounds like a wonderful idea.” His traitorous hand found the remote in his bedside table, and he called up a cue on the TV that he usually only accessed when he was feeling under the weather and needed a pick-me-up.

As the opening credits of the first one ran, Eggsy made himself comfortable on his seat by Harry’s bed, no longer a stool but a cushy armchair. Harry would sooner die than admit that he had them swapped out when he realized Eggsy was going to be spending a great deal of time with him and wanted the boy to be comfortable.

JB let out a soft whine, and then the pug flopped down and got cosy by Harry’s side. Harry smiled and reached out to scratch the pug behind the ear, just as Eggsy did the same. When their fingers met, the familiar tingles shot all the way up Harry’s arm. Given the way Eggsy jumped, Harry almost wondered if he had felt it too. But he kept his eyes on the screen, and when he didn’t say anything, Eggsy didn’t either. And if Harry kept stroking JB’s head gently, his fingers occasionally brushing up against Eggsy’s hand, well, that was entirely a coincidence.

He woke up sometime later, the playlist still running quietly in the background, the lights in the room dimmed by a hand that was neither Harry’s nor Eggsy’s. JB snored by Harry’s thigh, and Eggsy slumped in his armchair, half-draped over the pug, his arm resting gently on Harry’s leg. Harry smiled lazily, and stretched out his hand, stroking through Eggsy’s soft blond hair.

The boy stirred, and Harry snatched his hand back. “Harry?” Eggsy grunted, squinted up at him, “What time is it?”

“I have no idea,” Harry said softly. “It seems we’ve fallen asleep.”

Eggsy straightened up, stretching his arms above his head and working the kinks out of his neck. “I should probably go,” he said, and Harry could hear the notes of regret in his voice. “Sorry about, you know, fallin’ asleep on you.”

“It’s quite alright, Eggsy,” Harry murmured. “It’s quite alright.”

The young man gave him a lopsided half-smile, scooped the pug up in his arms, and ducked out of the room. Harry stared after him and swore at the ceiling.

 

***

 

“I brought yous something,” Eggsy grinned, pushing open the door to Harry’s room. He kept one arm tucked behind his back, not wanting to ruin the surprise.

Harry turned and cocked his head at him, “Oh?”

Eggsy licked his lips. “A present. In honour of you being up on your feet and all.”

“You didn’t have to, Eggsy.”

“I know.” Eggsy leaned against the doorframe, just because he knew it irritated Harry, and gave him a cheeky smile, “I wanted to.” He presented the box for Harry’s inspection.

The Alpha limped over. Most of the bandages were gone, the torn muscles reforming and skin stretching over them properly again. The slash on his face hadn’t scarred after all, fading to white and then disappearing altogether. He still struggled to walk, and using his left arm was still tricky, but Morgana assured Eggsy that given time and a little physical therapy, Harry would make a full recovery.

He took the box from Eggsy, and a delighted smile spread across his face, “A butterfly.”

“I asked Merlin about your collection,” Eggsy said, bashfulness stealing into his chest and softening his words. “He thinks it’s creepy too, by the way, but he helped me find one you didn’t have yet. Do you like it?”

“Dear boy, I love it.”

Eggsy almost choked at the words, and Harry froze, the hand holding the shadow box suddenly trembling. Eggsy found his feet before Harry did, and took a step closer to the Alpha. He didn’t want to dance around it any longer. “Harry, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, you may.” Harry’s calm voice was betrayed by the sheer panic in his eyes.

“And you’ll answer honest?”

“I won’t lie to you.”

“Good,” Eggsy said. He bit his lip, and took a deep breath, “Harry, are you in love with me?”

There was a long silence between the two, stretching like a delicate spider’s web across the distance, and Harry severed it gently with a tiny, whispered, “I think I am.”

“You never said.”

“Because I can’t love you, Eggsy.”

All the time he’d sat with Harry, Eggsy hadn’t asked the question Merlin had told him to. He meant to, but it never seemed the right time. He asked it now. “Why not? What happened that had you swearing off love?”

“You’ve been talking to Merlin.”

“That ain’t an answer.”

Harry sat down on the bed, as if his knees had given out. Eggsy stood over him, arms crossed, and waited.

Finally, Harry said, “A very long time ago, after I turned Merlin but before Kingsman really became Kingsman, before James and Alistair and Roxy, I met someone. Someone very much like you, Eggsy. He was a young man, down on his luck and needing a place to stay, and he was breathtaking to behold. I took one look at him and I felt it.”

“The pull?”

“Yes, exactly.” Harry sighed. “I was young and rebellious. I knew what my being a werewolf meant to people, but I didn’t care. Mark swore that didn’t matter to him, and I believed him without question.”

“But it did matter?”

“The thing about a lie, Eggsy, is if you phrase it right, if you wrap it in layers and layers of truth, it doesn’t sound like a lie at all.” Harry didn’t meet his eyes. His gaze remained fixed firmly at Eggsy’s feet. “Merlin warned me there was something off, but I didn’t want to listen. I was young and in love. I thought I had found my soulmate. So when Mark asked me to turn him, so we could truly be together, as he put it, I didn’t even think to deny him.”

“You turned him?”

“I was going to.” Harry’s shoulders drew up, his head hung lower, and Eggsy didn’t need to have werewolf senses to read the shame radiating off of Harry. “I told Merlin about it, and well, Merlin had done some digging. He’s very good with computers, you know. And he turned up some emails that Mark had sent, emails that detailed exactly what his plan for me was.”

“Let me guess. Happily ever after wasn’t a part of it?”

“Well, not for us as a pair, it wasn’t. Given my family, it was common knowledge that I was heir to a small fortune. Emphasis on the ‘was’. Mark thought I would still inherit, and once I turned him and he got access to the money, he intended to take it and run, start up his own pack with his lover, far away from London. I confronted him, heartbroken. I was still a lovesick fool. I told him I had no inheritance, and begged that he still stay with me anyway. He called me pathetic, and he left. So I stopped believing in soulmates. I swore I would never love another again, pull or no pull. I built up walls and I built up a pack and I built up a business and a small fortune of my own. And then you waltzed in here and tore everything down again.”

“Me?”

“I looked at you and I felt drawn to you in a way I hadn’t felt for anyone since Mark left. And I told myself I couldn’t give you shelter, because if I let you under my roof you would just do as Mark had done. But then I saw what Dean had done to you and I couldn’t let you hurt like that anymore. But I couldn’t allow myself to love you, Eggsy. So I kept my distance.”

“And then I started hanging around.”

“You did. And it hurt. It hurt so fucking much, seeing you, having you so close and knowing I couldn’t touch you.”

“You could ‘ave, though,” Eggsy said. He found his voice again, “I love you. I don’t know if what I felt, what I feel, is this pull thing, but I don’ care. I don’ care if you never turn me, and that’s the God’s-honest truth. Hell, I don’t even care if you still feel like you can’t love me proper. Just let me stay. Mum likes it here, and Daisy loves it. I love it. It’s more home than we’ve ever had. Let me stay, and be your friend, even if that’s all I can get. Please, Harry.”

“Oh, my dear boy.” It was like something snapped in Harry, and he surged to his feet, crowding up against Eggsy, his fingers threading through Eggsy’s hair, ignoring the tremors in his left hand and setting his skin aflame wherever they touched. Eggsy gasped, and then Harry was kissing him like fire, licking into his mouth, devouring him like a starving wolf. Eggsy clawed at Harry’s back in an attempt to draw him closer, and it was only a cough at the door that finally separated them, both panting, both blushing slightly.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, “I see you’ve got that sorted, then.”

“Not quite,” Harry said softly, smiling down at Eggsy, “but we’re getting there. Did you want something?”

“Actually, it’s about Eggsy,” Merlin said. Eggsy’s stomach twisted. There was a look on Merlin’s face that he wasn’t sure he liked.

Harry seemed to think so too, because he sat down again. “What is it?”

“The judge is going to throw out the case.”

“What?” Eggsy didn’t realize he was speaking until the two men looked at him. “They can’t do that!”

“I’m afraid they can,” Merlin said. “Something about not enough evidence or somesuch. I presume our Mr. Baker has been calling in favours.”

“Shit, probably.” Eggsy dropped down onto the bed next to Harry. “What are we gonna do?”

“You are going to stay here,” Harry said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “You and your mother and your sister. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the judge, and we’ll have a talk about who exactly they think they’re dealing with. We’ll get this mess sorted. Don’t worry.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Merlin said tactfully, bowing out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

Eggsy leaned against Harry, who wrapped his arm around him. “Fuck,” he said quietly.

“Yes, that does seem to sum up the situation quite nicely.”

“You know, Dean ain’t gonna let this get to court.”

“No?”

“No,” Eggsy buried his face in Harry’s shoulder. “I was stupid to think this could end any other way.”

“Eggsy, what are you saying?”

“I’m sayin’ this ain’t your fight, Harry. It’s not werewolf business. It’s human business. And you can’t take care of that like you can a pack moving in on your turf.”

“Eggsy-”

“I’m not gonna let your reputation get ruined for me, Harry. I won’t.” Eggsy pulled away from Harry’s embrace, standing and pacing across the room.

“Fuck my reputation!” Harry jumped to his feet, probably too hastily because he staggered, but he caught his balance and planted his feet defiantly. “I don’t care! So long as I have you, I don’t care. I’m done denying myself, done pretending I don’t want you.” He stalked across the room, backing Eggsy up against the door and pressing a bruising kiss to his lips. “We’ll take care of Dean together, or not at all.”

“Harry,” Eggsy breathed against his lips. He closed his eyes, savoured the feeling before Harry could sense the guilt pouring off him. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“What?”

Eggsy shoved Harry, wrenched the door open and slammed it shut, locking it quickly and taking off down the corridor at a sprint. He could hear Harry’s howling behind him, screaming his name and begging him to stop.  The door wouldn’t hold Harry back forever, and Eggsy ran faster, out the front door of the Kingsman complex and into the rapidly falling night air. He knew where to go.

London was a blur of lights behind him as he ran, until finally he slowed to a walk and approached The Black Prince. That was where this all began, really. Fitting that Eggsy was going to end it there.

He pushed open the door, and the pub fell silent. “Muggsy’s back,” Dean commented from the table across the room. He glanced at his boys, then back at Eggsy, “Guess you ‘eard about the court, then.”

Eggsy sorely wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. “Can we have a word outside?”

“Wot, is your sugar daddy waitin’ for us out there? Or are you gonna start fighting your own battles?”

“No one’s out there,” Eggsy said. “Just you and me, settlin’ this proper. We’s not going back, Dean. So why don’t you step outside, and we can settle this like men.”

Dean stood up. He gave a sharp nod to the bartender, who turned his back. “You ain’t no man,” Dean sneered as he approached. Eggsy stayed stock-still, fighting not to close his eyes. “You’re nothin’ but a poncy Alpha’s bitch.”

Eggsy was ready for the first swing, and managed to dodge it, but the second one caught him on the chin and sent him reeling backwards. The third clocked him solidly on the side of his head and stumbled sideways. He managed to get a hook to Dean’s cheek, but Dean didn’t play fair. Poodle came up behind Eggsy and grabbed his arms, twisting hard until Eggsy cried out, kicking his legs out from under him. And then the punches and kicks started to blur together, one long string of pain that had Eggsy’s mouth watering...wait, no, that was blood.

He hazily realized that the blows had stopped and that he was lying on the floor, drooling blood, choking with every breath he tried to take in. Dean leaned over him, his hot breath unpleasant in Eggsy’s face, “I don’ care about your mum anymore, Muggsy. And there are plenty of bitches like you.” He straightened up, and Eggsy heard footfalls and the slamming of the door.

He tried to lift his head, but it was too hard. He huffed out a breath and coughed. The door banged open again, and with what little consciousness he had he wondered if Dean had come to finish the job properly. It didn’t matter, because keeping his eyes open became impossible, each blink longer, the blackness darker.

“Eggsy? Eggsy, can you hear me darling?”

There was a gentle hand tilting his head back. It felt nice. And it sounded a lot like Harry. Eggsy fought for the next blink. Seeing Harry would be a nice way to go. And there was his face. Eggsy managed a weak smile, “You...should be...resting.”

Harry laughed, “If I’m not, it’s entirely your fault.”

Eggsy hummed, closing his eyes again. Harry’s voice turned desperate, “Eggsy? Eggsy, stay with me, darling.”

“Harry.” Oh, that was Merlin’s voice. Was Merlin there too? Eggsy couldn’t find the energy to open his eyes again. Merlin would take care of Harry. Merlin always took care of Harry.

“Merlin, I’m losing him!”

“He’s lost a lot of blood. Internal organs probably ruptured.”

Eggsy couldn’t feel Harry’s hands on him anymore. He couldn’t feel the floor, either. Was he floating?

“Merlin, what do I do?”

“It’s your decision, Harry. Better make it fast.”

What was Harry’s decision? It was too hard to think. Breathing, too, that was too hard.

“I’m sorry, Eggsy.”

Sorry? What did Harry have to be sorry for? But Eggsy couldn’t comfort him. He couldn’t do anything. There was a shift in the air around him, and then a brief prick of discomfort on his neck, but it was all in the background, all fading as the darkness finally took Eggsy and swallowed him whole.

 

***

 

Harry paced back and forth in front of his bedroom door, fighting to keep the snarl off his face. He felt a bit bad for snapping at James earlier when he and Alistair had come to check on him, but in light of the circumstances he couldn’t blame himself too much.

“You really shouldn’t be on your feet,” Merlin exited the room, closing the door sharply behind him before Harry could look inside. “You’re not fully healed yet, and that jaunt across London didn’t help.”

“Is he alright?” Harry asked, ignoring Merlin’s concern.

The Beta sighed, “I think so. His condition has stabilized, as far as Morgana can tell. She’s never exactly had to deal with something like this before, if you recall, and Eggsy was in pretty bad shape when we brought him in.”

“Can I see him?” Harry took a step forward.

Merlin stepped back, effectively blocking the door. “I don’t think that’s the best idea. He’s not even conscious yet, Harry. And you know that as soon as you go in that room, you’re going to be all over him.”

“I do possess a modicum of control, you know.” Snapping at his second wouldn’t do any good, especially when he was right. Still, Harry briefly entertained the very satisfying image of ripping the Beta’s throat out for standing in his way. “But you’re probably correct.”

“Give it a little time, Harry. Let him wake up first. Make sure this is what he really wants. You didn’t exactly give him a choice in the matter.”

“I know.” Harry studied his shoes and tried not to feel so guilty.

Merlin put a hand on his shoulder, “I’ll call Roxy. She can sit with him awhile.”

“Alright.”

“And Harry?” Merlin said, already halfway down the corridor. “Get some sleep. You need it.”

“Yes, Merlin.” Harry rolled his eyes, but did as the Beta asked. He couldn’t exactly retire to his room, so he went to Eggsy’s instead, curling up on the boy’s mattress and breathing in his comforting scent.

He wasn’t sure how long he slept, but it seemed only moments later that Roxy shook him awake. He perked up at once, “Is he awake?”

Roxy nodded, “He’s asking for you.”

Harry all but sprinted down the hall. He paused before the door, taking the moment to collect himself. He wasn’t an animal. He wouldn’t jump on Eggsy. He had control.

Harry pushed the door open and shuddered, assaulted by the intoxicating smell of an Omega in heat, mouth-watering lemon and pine and something deeper and warmer and, most importantly, absolutely no fear. He closed and locked the door behind him, and carefully made his way to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. “Eggsy?”

On top of the covers, completely undressed and drenched with sweat, Eggsy squinted at him, “Harry? You came.”

“Of course, dear boy. Roxy said you asked for me.”

“Fuck yeah, I did.” Eggsy surged upright, grabbing Harry by the front of his shirt and hauling him in for a kiss, licking into his mouth demandingly. Harry gave in, purring at the Omega’s obvious desire, but when he felt Eggsy’s hand in his lap he forced himself to pull away. Eggsy whined, and Harry shushed him.

“You’re in heat, darling, you’re not thinking straight.”

“Harry-”

“No, listen to me, Eggsy. I need you to think for a moment, alright?”

Eggsy pouted, but he stopped trying to grab at Harry, so the Alpha counted that as a win. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“You said that before, too,” Eggsy said. “I remember; when I was passin’ out on the floor. Why?”

“I did not ask your permission before I turned you, Eggsy. I know you didn’t want-”

“That’s what this is about?” Eggsy laughed. “Harry, I don’t care. I didn’t care if you turned me or not, and I don’t care that you did. I don't care that you're older than me. I don't care that we're doing this a little fast, or any other excuse you can find for why this is a bad idea. I want you, however you’ll have me. So I’m good. We’re good.” He nuzzled against Harry’s neck, tucking his nose against the pulse point.

“Eggsy-”

“You turned me, Harry. You knew I was gonna be an Omega, so why don’t you take care of me like a proper Alpha, yeah?”

“If you’re sure.”

“Really fucking sure,” Eggsy groaned. “You look so fucking good like this.”

“I did remember you liking it.” It was a little distracting, what with Eggsy running his hands over the soft fabric of the t-shirt and sweats he wore, but at least he was keeping it tasteful.

“Love you for that, but I'd love you a lot better out of it. Please, Harry?”

“Well,” Harry allowed his lips to quirk up into a sly smile, “since you asked so nicely.” He pressed Eggsy back against the bed, nipping gently at the Omega’s neck. “You smell divine, darling.”

“You smell fucking amazing yourself,” Eggsy retorted. He tugged at Harry’s shirt, “Now get this off before I rip it off.”

“Demanding,” Harry purred. He acquiesced, tugging the shirt over his head, followed by his shoes, his socks, his trousers, and then, finally, his pants.

Eggsy’s eyes went wide, “Fuckin’ hell, Harry.”

“I _am_ an Alpha, darling.” This time he didn’t bat away Eggsy’s hand when the Omega went to grab his cock. Eggsy ran his fingers along the shaft, and Harry fought not to buck into the touch, letting the younger man explore as he wished.

Eggsy looked up at him suddenly coy, and smirked, “Now I’m teasin’ you, aren’t I?”

“Perhaps just a bit. You’re remarkable coherent for an Omega experiencing his first heat.”

Eggsy grinned, “Bet you can make me less coherent.” He canted his hips up, and Harry grinned and pressed the Omega down on his back, hitching one of his legs up around Harry’s waist.

“Is that a challenge, my dear?”

“You fucking know it.”

Harry slid his hand between them, sliding two fingers into Eggsy to ensure he was slick enough, unable to help the groan wrenched from him at the feeling of Eggsy’s tight, wet heat clinging to him. Eggsy groaned too, wriggling back. “That all you got?”

In answer, Harry pulled his fingers out and slammed his cock in instead. Eggsy gasped, his back arching up off the bed. Harry gave him a moment to adjust, stroking his hair, whispering praise into his ear. Eventually, Eggsy ground back against him and murmured, “Come on. Yous supposed to knot me now, right? That’ll make it better?”

“Yes.”

“Then fuckin’ get on with it!”

Harry laughed, “Cheeky bugger.” He punctuated it with a sharp snap of his hips, and Eggsy groaned.

“You love it.”

Harry didn’t answer, but he did give Eggsy exactly what the Omega had been asking for. Eggsy felt amazing, wrapped like a vise around Harry’s cock, dripping sweat and slick. When he tucked his nose into Eggsy’s neck, all he could smell was lemon and pine, the scent overwhelming the room and making Harry growl, his thrusts becoming faster and harder as the wolf rose up inside him, demanding he claim his Omega.

“Fuck, Harry,” Eggsy whimpered, his fingers clutching tight to the back of Harry’s neck, scratching down his back, touching every inch of the Alpha that he could reach. “Feels so fucking good, don’t stop.”

Harry wasn’t sure he could stop if he wanted to, and he most certainly did not want to. He could feel his knot swelling, and he ground harder against Eggsy’s entrance on every thrust, needing to get all the way inside, needing to be locked together with his Omega.

Eggsy could feel it too, and pushed back against every thrust, “You gonna knot me, Harry? Tie us together, fill me up?”

“Christ, Eggsy.” Harry whimpered, his thrusts slowing and becoming more of a grind.

“Such a good Alpha,” Eggsy gasped, his fingers firm on the back of Harry’s neck. “Come on, Harry.”

“I’m close,” Harry whispered desperately. He kept his face tucking into the crook of Eggsy’s neck, nosing over where he would form the bond bite, if the Omega allowed it. “I’m so close, darling, I just need-”

“Mate me, Harry,” Eggsy whispered. “Bond me, make me yours.”

Harry snarled and shoved in hard, his teeth breaking the skin of Eggsy’s neck as his knot swelled fully, locking them together. He whimpered when he came, overwhelmed by the pleasure coupled with the sensation of the bond washing over him. He laved his tongue over the bite, soothing it as Eggsy panted.

Harry stroked his hands over his Omega’s body, the wolf purring. His hand found Eggsy’s cock, still hard and leaking, and he murmured, “What I terrible Alpha I’ve been, leaving you unsatisfied. Let’s take care of that, why don’t we?” He gripped Eggsy’s cock tightly, and it only took a few firm strokes before the Omega was spilling over Harry’s fist with a gasp, tightening around Harry’s sensitive cock and making him wince as it pulled another orgasm out of him.

He collapsed on the bed, one arm wrapped tightly around Eggsy, and panted softly. “That was…”

“Fucking incredible,” Eggsy finished for him. “Is it always like that?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Eggsy frowned at him, “You mean you’ve never…?”

“I’ve only felt drawn to two people in my life, Eggsy, and you know how the other one turned out.”

“Yeah, but, surely there must have been...I mean...”

“There wasn’t.” Harry leaned back a little to get a good look at Eggsy’s face. The Omega was clearly surprised. “Does it bother you?” he asked. “That I’ve never had sex before?” It was unusual for a man his age, he knew, but it had never bothered him before. But if Eggsy thought he was ridiculous...

Eggsy laughed, but it was far from mocking, “It’s fuckin’ flattering, is what it is. And kind of hot, too.” He nuzzled into Harry’s neck, pressing a soft kiss to his collarbone, “This your room, then?”

“How could you tell?”

Eggsy jerked his chin towards the nearest wall, “Fucking butterflies everywhere. Why ain’t I in the hospital wing? Last I remember, I was pretty messed up.”

“Turning you healed a great deal of your injuries before we even got you back to the complex, and given that you were about to go into heat, I felt you would be more comfortable here.”

“Lot better than shagging in a hospital bed,” Eggsy agreed. He settled against Harry’s chest, “So is that it, then?”

“Unfortunately not. A heat can last several days, usually no less than a week if the Omega is presenting. We’ll be here a while yet.”

“Is that supposed to be bad news?” Eggsy grinned at him and squirmed, drawing a hiss from Harry.

He gripped Eggsy’s hip tightly to still him, “Don’t tease, darling.”

“You’re mine now,” Eggsy smirked. “I get to tease you as much as I want.”

“God help me.”

Eggsy let out a short bark of laughter and nipped lightly at Harry’s neck, “You love me.”

“That I do.”

“Say it?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to hear you say it.”

“I love you, Eggsy Unwin.”

“I love you, Harry Hart.” Eggsy pressed a kiss to his pulse point, and then asked, “So what now?”

“Now we live happily ever after.” There would be time later to talk about Dean, to track him down and make him pay for what he’d done. But for now, Harry had Eggsy in his arms, and that was all he needed.

“Sap,” Eggsy murmured.

“Get used to it, my darling. You'll be seeing a great deal of it for a very long time.”

“Can't wait.”

 

***

 

“Come on, Eggsy, you’re going to be late!” Roxy shoved him away from the mirror and towards the door. “You look fine!”

“It doesn’t look right, Rox,” Eggsy whined. He gave his bowtie another yank, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now, _Gary_.”

Eggsy stuck out his tongue, “It’s not cold feet, _Roxanne_. It’s just nerves, that’s all.”

“Well, tell your nerves to shove it, because you’re going to be late!” With that, Roxy grabbed his shoulder and marched him out the door. She paused before the entrance to the courtyard, “You ready?”

Eggsy took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, “I’m ready.”

“Good.” Roxy let go of his arm, “Go on, then.”

Eggsy stepped out into the glaring sunlight, tension welling in his stomach. Then he caught scent of lavender and honey, drifting down on the breeze, and he smiled. In the centre of the courtyard, Harry stood waiting for him, a beaming smile on his face as he stared at Eggsy.

When Eggsy made it to stand beside his mate, he nudged Harry gently and whispered, “You look great.” Pink was a good colour on Harry, although Eggsy was glad he had limited it to his waistcoat.

“So do you.”

“We didn’t have to make this much of a fuss, you know. Could have just signed a paper.”

“I believe you were the one who wanted a proper wedding. Now shush, this part is important.”

“Do you, Harry Hart, take Gary Unwin to be your lawfully wedded husband?” the minister asked.

“I do.” Harry squeezed Eggsy’s hand.

“And do you, Gary Unwin, take Harry Hart to be _your_ lawfully wedded husband?”

“Fuck yeah I do!” Eggsy smirked at Harry’s admonishing raised eyebrow. Over his shoulder, he saw Merlin roll his eyes.

“Then I now pronounce you spouses for life. You may kiss.”

Eggsy threw his arms around Harry’s neck and, startling his Alpha considerably, dipped him backwards for a passionate kiss. Somewhere nearby, Roxy wolf-whistled, and Eggsy could hear James and Alistair laughing. He knew his mum was watching, but imagined she was too busy trying to not cry with joy. He broke the kiss and grinned down at Harry, who looked amused. “Pleased with yourself?” the Alpha asked dryly.

“Not as pleased as I’m gonna be with you tonight,” Eggsy grinned and winked at his mate.

“You’re incorrigible.”

“But you love me anyway.”

“Always and forever, my darling.” Harry dragged Eggsy down into another kiss, and Eggsy laughed against his lips. Always and forever. Yep, that sounded about right.


End file.
